Cog Hill Golf course

Well, I thought I’d try this blogging stuff. I’m getting ready to go to a job site in Chicago. The install is for frame and panel ceilings, walnut crown and walnut column features in the main dining hall at Cog Hill golf course.

The room is about 60’ long by 40’ wide. The ceiling is about 25’ tall at the peak. The roof is a mansard style inside and out. So the frame and panel system has three seperate planes to work in. The first at the crown line is vertical for about 3’. Then it tilts off vertical maybe 25 degrees or so and about 6’ tall to the upper section that goes about 60 or so degrees off horizontal for about 15’ or so. This occurs on both sides as well as the ends.

This will be attempt at posting a pic….so we’ll see….

This is supposed to be a pic of the ceiling (before any demo started.)

So this is the end ‘til I see what happens.

Well, I guess you’ll just have to click on the link to see anything. I don’t know if this will be a series or not. It all depends on whether I stick with it or not.

The install is supposed to last about two months. If i come back, I have more pics.

O.K. So, I may be getting the hang of this. Here are a few more now pics.

This would be the mantle we did awhile back.

Close-up.

And this would be one of about 12 columns. They’ll be covered in hand scraped walnut. The same walnut will be used for crown around the perimeter at the top of the columns. Matching base at the bottom. I’ll have to get pics of the attached room (that is also being done. Fortunately, it is of normal height and proportions.)

The columns were right at 12’ tall. It got to be a real problem getting 12’ lumber. There are strategic seams where we could put them. In some cases we had to use full 12’ lengths.

The really ugly window coverings are being replaced with Valances ( hand scraped walnut of course) glued up into rather wides pieces. I have no pics of them yet.

One of these days I might vent about all the problems we’ve encountered. We were given conceptual drawings. I didn’t know this when we started. Turns out the “designer” isn’t an architect and “we” were supposed to do the actual shop drawings. After about 4 months of building, we were suddenly faced with changes based on what they found during the actual demo. FYI, the golf course is open all year until January. They are supposed to open back up March 1st. So all this is supposed to take place within that time. Little did they know they would find roof leaks, dry rot, ceiling hieght changes in some lower portions of the rooms(after the columns were already made), etc.

I believe that would be all until things get going.

if for some reason you are offended by shadow references to profanity be forewarned to read no further. While not explicit, the references are obvious. This also applies to a select group of people and does not generalize. While it is not uncommon behavior, I know not all people in the groups I refer to, necessarily act the same way.

Rather than start the next in a series blog, I figured I’d just edit this one….since this is the end of this blog.

Got to Chicago…...and guess what? some union rat f—- decided he’d call his union and tell them scabs were at the job site.

Backstory: Job is headed by paper contractor, non-union. Site is privately owned. Union Rat f—- has done work there before and convinced the owners he was worthwhile. Union rat f—- commie s.o.b. was working on this job also and was consulted on whether it would present any problem that “we”, the non-union scabs, were coming to install our product. We were told….”No problem.” We got set up to pressure the owners.

We get there, unload the Butternut ceiling (walnut is at the finishers), unloaded our tools, set up our scaffolding, when ….guess who comes walking in? Union rat f—- commie steward. Typical conversation ensued…they thought they had the authority to tell us that we couldn’t be there, it had to be done by union labor, etc., etc.

Long story short, we like and are liked by the owners. The union doesn’t have any authority over us. But, any trouble we might make would cause the owners problems, not the union. Threats of pulling union golf outings, pickets lines, no more garbage pick-up, calling their paid-off OSHA buddies to fine us tens of thousands of dollars for “violations”, etc., would only cause the owners problems. So we packed up and left.

We lined up a union company we’d met in downtown chicago that we knew would do a good job. They’re nice guys…..they gave us a tour of their job, we, the same, they even borrowed some time on our table saw, etc. They do good work. Turns out the commie union rat f—- at the site didn’t even want them there….he wants to pressure the owners to only use his union guys.

America….land of the free….where you can do what you want for a living, where you want to do it, and when.

Bull.

As far as I’m concerned these particular people should be tried as traitors to the United States and executed. If one of them had waved an American flag at me I would’ve beat him ‘til he was a vegatable.

They claim they’re Americans, yet, they’re telling us that we can only do what they say, where, and when. AND we have to pay them to do it (more commonly know as extortion or protection money.) They WOULD allow us to buy in for just this job. For our crew of 5 guys, $10,000 just to get in the “system”, $1400 per person, $13/hr extra for each person on top of the wages…..for union benefits we would never get, 2 union workers for every two of ours, taxes on all that extra pay, each employee would also have to pay the annual dues plus a percentage of the prevailing wages we would make. And all this from people who took all day to put up 3 sheets of drywall on a 9’ high ceiling with a man-lift.

End of rant/End of Blog….is has to be, because if I continue, I’ll go back there and make them wish they were never born. If for some reason someone here decides all this is not appropriate for this site, please feel free …..yes…free….to delete it. It’s not my site, per se, and I respect your right to run your business as you see fit.

Well, the !’s worked. I’m planning on adding some pics of the start, during, and after. If for no other reason than I need to record as much as possible. These things have a habit of needing historical references, depending on how things go. I guess I should expand the blog and not make comments. So I’ll try that and/or make a series out of it.

That quite the adventure.Cog Hill gets quite a price for their greens fee’s, I played the course 15 or 16 years ago and I think it was around 125.00 for 18 hokes of play. I would hate to see what they charge now!

The thing about Butternut is it’s shade shifting and its irridescense. As you walk around, the wood tends to go from light to dark to light. The irridescense is subtle, but the shade shift can be rather dramatic.

We were hearing the green fees were $400 a round. But, then it’s a public course and there are some 4 – 6 courses. So, that price may be for the “championship course” or something. I doubt if the general public would pay $400 all the time.